The smell of freshly baked bread

Amanda Anderson • 11 Jan 2011

There really isn't anything like the smell of fresh bread that's just come out of the breadmaker. Today I thought I would share a bread recipe that I used to use when living at home, and still use today. It's also very easy to adapt to different flavours.

The Basic Bread

Into your breadmaker add:

• 2.5 cups of high grade flour (you can use standard flour if you don't have high grade, it just makes a better loaf with high grade)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon breadmaker yeast (on colder days I use a bit more, and also use more depending on the brand of yeast - my current batch needs about 5 teaspoons to make the bread rise)
• 1/4 cup of milk and 3/4 cup of water OR 1 tablespoon of milk powder and 1 cup of water

The Variations

• Linseed and Poppy Seed Bread - add 1 tablespoon each of whole linseed (flaxseed) and poppy seeds
• Bacon and Cheese Bread - add 1 tablespoon of dried bacon bits OR 1/4 cup cooked fresh bacon and 1/4 cup grated cheese. Just before the baking process starts, sprinkle over a tablespoon of grated parmesan or romano cheese
• Pumpkin and Sunflower Seed Bread - add 1 tablespoon each of pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds.
• Walnut Bread - add two tablespoons of chopped walnuts
• Wholemeal Bread - substitute 1 cup of white flour for 1 cup of wholemeal flour
• Country Grain Bread - add 1 tablespoon each of linseed, poppy seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and sesame seeds.

The variations are only limited to your imagination. Often I will just open the cupboard and put in a bunch of stuff that looks good! This loaf is linseed and poppy with a sprinkle of romano on top.

Tags: bread, recipes